Last night the battery in my Squire Affinity Jazz Bass died. For the last week or so I was worried I was playing it wrong as I just couldn’t get a clear tone out of it. Last night was the final straw as the EQ stopped working. As I have only had it a month I was worried I had a fault in the bass. So I went down a deep rabbit hole regarding 9-volt batteries. After a lot of searching I found out the batteries they ship with the bass are not good enough for long-term use. I play roughly 2-3 hours a day practising and learning. So no more zinc-carbon batteries for my bass, I now have Duracell heavy-duty alkaline in it.
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You probably know this, but just in case: make sure that you unplug the instrument cable when you finish playing. Plugging in the cable is what powers on the active preamp. If you leave it plugged in, you’re really shortening the battery’s life span. Even if you switch the bass to passive mode, the active preamp is still powered up when the cable is plugged in.
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Indeed. The output jack is also the preamp on/off switch. The preamp is on whenever a cable is plugged in.
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I’ve always wondered why someone hasn’t developed an active bass that can use a power injector, similar to phantom power for mics, or PoE for networking. In fact if you designed it right you could use phantom power, just use a 7812 voltage regulator and a voltage divider to get 9V or even better a LM317 to get, 9V or 18V.
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It looks like Alembic series I and II use a 5 pin XLR that powers the bass and delivers a balanced signal out. Pretty cool.
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5 pin XLR otherwise known as DMX!
For musical applications more likely DIN (i.e. like a standard 5-pin MIDI DIN connector).
Yeah, I looked more closely at the photo and it does look like a DIN 5 pin.
Still, it should be pretty easy to retrofit something into an active bass that can allow it to use phantom power.
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Various people/companies have a MIDI hack where the 5-pin DIN also carries +5V and Ground too (since MIDI only uses 3 of the pins), which is sufficient for a lower power preamp.
Yea but accuracy is not as funny
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lol good point
Equipment matters. Practice isn’t enough. Checking out your equipment is always a good idea and should be part of a good practicing routine.
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Since getting the bass last month, I have learnt so much. I can do set pp and change strings, something I had never thought I would have known. I have also helped a bass player with his set-up, and this guy has been playing for over 15 years. He never learnt how to set up and adjust his bass.
Which model is that? I’m not aware of the Affinity Jazz being active.
Not the OP, but I purchased this one during a fender.com sale earlier this year.
https://www.fender.com/products/limited-edition-affinity-series-active-jazz-bass
Sweet little bass!
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its this one. I think they are newish.
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Same here - this weekend I was jamming with friends and my brand new amp started making horrible noises. Turns out my battery was crapping out 
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It’s noise I didn’t want to hear too much of again. At least we know what to listen out for now.